As you can see in the image above from @FrancePalopoli on Twitter, there were plenty of fans ready to wait in line to get their hands on a new BlackBerry Z10 (and to see Pixi Lott who was making an appearance at this store of course) first thing this morning. This image is from a Phones 4U store and from the looks of it the turnout was pretty amazing.

The UK is the first to get the Z10 as it heads to carriers and stores like O2, Vodafone, Phones 4U, Carephone Warehouse and many others. They do get a bit of a head start as the Z10 won't hit next until it lands in Canada on February 5th. You can see the full list of carrier availability here.

Are you in the UK and picked up (or are planning to) a BlackBerry Z10? Hit up the forums and let us know!

Does anyone know if we can buy the phone directly from RIMM....ooopps I mean BlackBerry?
Like maybe from their website?
Apple allows you too... I am wondering if we can instead of waiting until March if we are willing to pay full price for it.

Well, you've heard of cross border shopping right? Just get it delivered to your American address or ask who is visiting Canada soon (I work on a project where half the consultants fly home to the U.S. every Thursday afternoon ... I'm in Calgary - going to play with a Z10 next week at BestBuy... Yay!!!!).

I am sure someone could make a good buck if they buy phones outside contract and sell them directly to the USA market early. However, would they work?

Could Canadians buy phones, ship to USA through eBay sales and with a simple SIM swap have it work for a person in the USA? Are the radio frequency bands the same? Would all carriers work or only certain carriers?

There may be some people in the USA willing to pay $1000 for the phone, so if you buy here for $700-800 and ship it, you can make a $200 profit for each one.

I am sure someone could make a good buck if they buy phones outside contract and sell them directly to the USA market early. However, would they work?

Could Canadians buy phones, ship to USA through eBay sales and with a simple SIM swap have it work for a person in the USA? Are the radio frequency bands the same? Would all carriers work or only certain carriers?

There may be some people in the USA willing to pay $1000 for the phone, so if you buy here for $700-800 and ship it, you can make a $200 profit for each one.

Where was it and what for? I went today to one of Carphones to have a look at Z10. First of all there was no queue. They had two dummy Z10: black and white. They looked like a plastic toys! Is it true the back of original Z10 is plastic and looks almost like the one of LG L3 for £49.00?

The Dummy units are not a patch on the actual units. Handled a couple today for 10 minutes and they feel great in the hand. Although they use plastic in the build they feel sturdy. Compared to the GS3, one in each hand, there is no comparison. The soft touch back is sublime, I wanted to rub my face on it!

What this article 'forgets' to mention is that the store in question had an appearance from Pixi Lotte (Popular singer in the UK) and they were giving playbooks out to the first 250 purchases - even Phone4u where the picture comes from titled it

"Queuing to see Pixie at the launch of the @UK_BlackBerry in white on Oxford St London"

So anyone got any pictures of queues where there are no celebrity appearances?

Anyone got one of those and we have something to talk about....

EDIT: The article has been edited to include the Pixi Lotte appearance - so no I didn't miss it when I read it.

Hi, huge BB fan and supporter here. However I do somewhat agree. I want to see what's going on at the stores without celebrity appearances and freebies being handed out. Just sayin'. I WILL be getting mine next week in Canada though eh!

The implication of this picture, without a mention of the give away or the celebrity, is that this is representative of all the UK stores selling BB10 today. The question is, is that a fair representation? There are enough CrackBerrians who are in the UK to tell us their anecdotal evidence at the local stores around the Country.

I have bought most every major BB release on launch day here in the States (I got the 9810 instead of the 9900) and I have never had to wait on a line except the normal cue at the local AT&T Corp store so if I had to wait on a line like this - you bet I would report it here.

I'm a big BB fan but there is not a chance I would ever wait in line to pay for a new phone. I would just come back the next day. I'll leave the lining up for the people who enjoy that kind of thing. In the meantime I'll be Skiing.

Big Mistake not having it available in US!! Stock down, 2 of my friends heading to other devices. Can"t seem to WAIT any longer. They are starting to use it as RIMM's (Blackberry) middle name. WAIT WAIT WAIT!! It is very frustrating.

Stock is down due to profit taking.....i will watch for the bottom, buy back in and make more easy money.....as for your 2 friends, their short sightedness will come back to haunt them......they will have to wait even longer for their new contracts to expire so they can get the phone everyone is going to want....PS....don't let them drool all over yours.....lol.

I'm located in the UK and I have excited that Z10s was realising today but looked online and they are only selling the black ones, the white is coming out on the 18th Feb!! So gutted. Feel sorrow to the folks in The US.

Like to note that there's a good deal with o2 unlimited Mins&Texts 1GB data for £26pm £99 upfront cost!

Phones4u have exclusivity on the white Z10 for now. That's why you can't get it anywhere else. And that's why I called them at 9am this morning (when their upgrades lines opened) to have my new white BlackBerry delivered. I would have done the trek to London for the chance to get another 64gb PlayBook, but I have work!

I managed to get the phone for free on an upgrade. Unlimited minutes and texts, 1GB data, 2gb wifi hotspot access on a 24 month contract. All for £37/month. Not much data, I know. But I'm always in a wifi area these days.

My BlackBerry experience is just over four years, Storm only, and two Playbooks. The PlayBooks are fantastic and gave me confidence that BB10 would be a great OS, although I had no illusions about it being perfect from day one.

So here in the UK I ordered from Vodafone at 9.30am this morning online. There was some confusion about my details even though I have been a Vodafone customer for 25 years! Anyway, my order had to be cancelled and then re-entered at about 3pm, by which time they had apparently sold out. I began to despair. But at last I was put through to someone who I assume was a manager and he could not have been more helpful. He said that they would hopefully be showing stock again in 30 mins, and assured me that if that was the case I'd have my Z10 tomorrow (Friday 1st Feb). If not, it would be Monday.

Needless to say I am beside myself with excitement. It has been a long two-year wait since my Storm 1 contract expired, so I went on a SIM-only contract while I waited patiently for BB10. I did not want to get tied into an OS 7 phone as it would have delayed my experience of what I came to see as a major, quantum leap forward for PlackBerry phones. Besides, my Storm had finally come good and was giving reliable service. I decided that I did not want to start all over again with a different ecosystem even though iPhone and Samsung seemed all the rage.

So, all being well, tomorrow I will be a BB Z10 person at last. It's been a long, long wait. Whether it is tomorrow or Monday, I will start a diary thread about my Z10 experience so that those yet to receive theirs will have some idea of what to expect, from the perspective of an ordinary non-techie user.

During my 9am call to phones4u this morning, the lady told me that she had 30 callers in the queue by about 9:15. By 9:30 when my upgrade was finalised, she told me that there were now 50 people in the queue! Seems like a strong demand first thing in the morning!

Just like me i should be receiving my Z10 tomorrow I received a text saying it was dispatched today, and like yourself I'll keep a working diary of how things are..I've had both storms and the 9800 so this is a major step up for all of us good luck by the way.

Went in to a Phones4U in London this morning at about 11:30. I asked about BB10 and the chap gave me a demo unit to try. I think it is great - genuinely different interface, brilliant keypad (the best virtual one I have ever used) and competitive pricing.

My contract is up in June for my 9105, I will be getting either the Z10 or Q10 in its place! (BTW there was no queue or crowd there- but that might have been earlier!)

Hi everyone I'm really sorry to hear of the USA delays, I used to live in NY for around 24 years and became a fan of blackberry quite a few years ago and now that I'm back in the UK and have been. With O2. For ages I was quite surprised at how they kept the release date hush hush..today I received a text to say the BB Z10 was available so I logged on to my account and within 5 minutes they sent a message saying it was dispatched and i should be receiving it tomorrow...my plan is on contract for 24 months and the phone is free @ £36 a month I will keep everyone in the loop. With my verdict but it looks damn good so far..here's hoping they speed things up so you can experience the new BlackBerry.

Hi everyone. Bought mine on EE today. £28.50/month over 24 months for 1000 texts and minutes and 1 gb of data. Then 50 for the phone. It is being delivered tomorrow! When I called in I was told a lot of people were ordering it. I then played around with the phone at the EE shop. The sales rep was very excited and I have to say that the phone felt and looked great.. Compared it in the hand with iPhone and Samsung. Looking forward to it!

OK, so that one shop had people outside because Pixie Lott was inside. Didn't happen in my city,in the morning I walk past 7 mobile phone shops on the way to work (at about 9am when they open). No-one was paying the slightest interest. i went into Phones4U on the way home, and had a look at a unit, spoke to a sales guy and asked about interest, and he said I was the first that had gone to the display all day (this was at 5.15pm).

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